


band-aids don't fix bullet holes

by luckysam78



Series: the ricky goldsworth case files [1]
Category: Buzzfeed Unsolved (Web Series)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Angst, Break Up, Crimes & Criminals, Developing Relationship, False Identity, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, High School, Kidnapping, Las Vegas, Lies, M/M, Murder, Pining, Post-High School, Pre-Relationship, Running Away, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-30
Updated: 2019-06-30
Packaged: 2020-05-13 06:02:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,009
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19245280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/luckysam78/pseuds/luckysam78
Summary: ricky and c.c. never fell out of love but it was harder for them to love than they expected





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> from the start, ricky and c.c. were the best of friends but ricky didn’t know c.c. wanted to be more than that and in the end, everything came full circle

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: Graphic Descriptions of a murder

From a young age, Ricky Goldsworth and C.C. Tinsley were the best of friends. They grew up together in a small neighborhood and spent the majority of their childhood running around and wreaking havoc, in an innocent, child-like way of course. Ricky was the one who always came up with the ideas and C.C. always tagged along, glad to help out a friend. The adults in the neighborhood found their friendship endearing and never really got mad at the two friends for the troubles they got themselves into. 

As they grew up, Ricky and C.C. discovered their interest in mystery books and furthermore, murders. They loved reading Nancy Drew and Sherlock Holmes books and while C.C. was more invested in the detective work and the forensics behind certain cases, Ricky was more interested in the creativity of the murders. When they graduated elementary school and moved onto middle school, the duo began reading about murder mysteries that occurred in real life and enjoyed watching detective shows. 

In 7th grade, Francesca also joined their small friend group because she also loved murder mysteries and detective books and introduced Ricky and C.C. to the world of secret agents and spies. She explained that she wanted to be a spy one day and got Ricky and C.C. hooked on a great spy television show. During Halloween, the trio decided to dress up in loosely related costumes so Francesca dressed up as an FBI agent, Ricky dressed up as Jack the Ripper, and C.C. dressed up as Sherlock. Their costumes captured the true oddball nature of the friends.

Many people would assume that C.C. and Ricky would grow apart and branch off to find new friends in high school but they were still the best of friends in high school. Their love for murder mysteries didn’t die either and C.C. and Ricky took a forensic science class together during sophomore year. One day, when they were doing DNA analysis in class, Ricky had turned to C.C. and mused, “Isn’t ironic that as you’re learning how to solve crimes, you’re also learning how to commit a crime and get away with it? Like with all the stuff we learned this year in forensic science, I could, hypothetically, murder somebody right now and not be caught.”

“If our forensic science teacher heard that, I think she would have a heart attack,” C.C. responded and the two laughed before returning to their work, never addressing that remark again. 

It wasn’t until junior year when C.C. realized that he was crushing on his best friend. He never consciously thought about how attractive Ricky and thought that wanting to hold your best friend’s hand was normal which, to his surprise, apparently was not. C.C. found himself constantly admiring Ricky, no matter where he was or what time it was. He thought that Ricky looked beautiful when he was stressed about the chemistry test when he was laughing, and even when he was simply watching television. 

Because the town C.C. was in wasn’t very progressive and kind of homophobic, it was difficult for C.C. to accept his feelings. He found it difficult to accept that he liked boys in addition to liking girls and it took him about half a year to finally come out to himself. After moving on from that obstacle, C.C. had to accept that he was crushing on his best friend and that his best friend probably was unaware of this development of feelings. Even if Ricky did know, he probably didn’t feel the same about C.C., which is why C.C. never ever wanted to admit his feelings aloud.

Francesca used her abnormally accurate observational skills to quickly determine that C.C. had a crush on Ricky and C.C. knew that Fran knew, but didn’t want to admit it, partly out of shame. On a sunny afternoon, Ricky, C.C., and Francesca were studying for finals together and Ricky had to bike back to school because he left his notebook in his locker, which left C.C. alone with Francesca. The moment Ricky closed the front door, Francesca took her opportunity and excitedly asked, “So, when are you going to ask him out? You clearly are into Ricky! You need to confess your love!”

 

“Fran, have you been watching spy dramas that are centered around romance lately? Sorry to break it to you but love in real life is very different from fictional love,” C.C. awkwardly replied, frowning a bit as he returned to studying. Francesca pried the notebook away from his hands and continued on as if she hadn’t heard his words.

“I’m pretty sure Ricky is into you too! I can’t really read him but I think he likes you back. You should totally ask him out!” Fran was speaking a mile a minute, a habit that became evident whenever she was overly enthusiastic. She looked like a little excited puppy, clearly ecstatic about the idea of C.C. and Ricky dating. 

“I’ll do it when I’m ready,” C.C. lied, hoping that would make Fran drop the subject and she did, dialing her excitement levels back down to the minimum. Fran didn’t mention C.C.’s crush on the oblivious Ricky Goldsworth but would always raise her eyebrows anytime C.C. began staring at Ricky with lovestruck eyes. 

Much to Francesca’s dismay, C.C. wasn’t ready to admit his crush on Ricky even after they finished senior year. He knew that he might not ever get the chance to admit his love for Ricky after graduation but decided to bite his tongue and hold his peace forever, hoping that he would be able to move on and find a girl in college that would help him get over this dumb crush of his. 

Regardless of C.C.’s remorse, graduating from high school was a sentimental experience. The three friends were going to different colleges and parting ways so they tried to make the best use of their last few days together. Fran was going to New York to study sociology, C.C. was going to Boston to study forensic science, and Ricky was going to California to study criminal psychology and the three had consulted with each other before choosing majors. They spent the last few days together up all night, going through photos and taking a stroll down memory lane. When they officially had to part ways and move into their college dormitories, Francesca, C.C., and Ricky held a party for themselves, promised to stay in touch, and went off to college. 

Unfortunately, C.C. lost contact with Ricky halfway through freshman year but occasionally texted Francesca. C.C. tried contacting Ricky several times but his texts never sent and Francesca couldn’t get a hold of him either. Even Ricky’s parents didn’t know what was going on with Ricky and claimed to not have seen him for weeks. C.C. knew this was a red flag and something was wrong but was too busy with school work to take time to investigate. 

It wasn’t until C.C. got a job as a private investigator when he looked into the case of Ricky Goldsworth. He searched all public records and every lead he found led to a dead end. C.C. finally gave up on the case, deciding that Ricky probably moved to a new country to start a new life. 

Then, he was assigned to a new, intriguing case at 11 pm on a Monday night. The investigation agency refused to disclose the particular details of the case, insisting that he showed up to the crime scene before looking at the gathered information so C.C. drove to the crime scene. When he arrived at the crime scene, he was greeted with one of the most gruesome sights he would ever see in his entire life. 

The victim’s body was sprawled on the body, limbs splayed out and bent in crooked positions. His mouth was agape and his eyes were open and devoid of any emotions. There a giant hole in his chest where the murderer tore out his heart strategically, reminding C.C. of the Jack the Ripper murder. Dried blood had formed a dark pool around the victim’s body and there was no murder weapon around. The murder was so bizarre and unique that it was almost poetic and outlandishly creative. 

The victim’s name was Harold, according to the secondary, who was also assigned to this case, at the scene. He was enjoying his Monday night by watching some television when the murderer came in at around 9:30 pm and killed him. Harold was a relatively boring man and didn’t seem to have any reason to be the target of such a horrific murder but here he was, flesh rotting by the minute. The secondary also claimed to have been interviewing witnesses and neighbors to gather a list of suspects. C.C. was thankful that the secondary already did all the heavy duty work and left C.C. the most exciting part of the case. 

“Who are the suspects?” C.C. wasted no time getting straight to the point. This case was the first case that had intrigued him in a while and he was itching to catch the suspect and get a confession. Solving this case would certainly look good for his reputation at the investigation agency. 

“We don’t have many suspects,” The secondary frowned, glancing at his notes and circled a note. “But we do have one suspect that we should look into.”

“What’s their name?” C.C. glanced over at Harold’s corpse, wondering who could ever have the audacity to perform such a grisly murder. 

“Ricky Goldsworth.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and as it turns out, c.c. finds himself returning back to ricky again. It’s almost like everything was coming full circle

C.C. never thought that he would ever hear Ricky’s name again, much less at a crime scene as a suspect. He didn’t want to believe that Ricky would commit such a terrible crime; he simply refused to but of course, he couldn’t explain why to the secondary. Instead, he pretended he didn’t know anything about Ricky Goldsworth and asked the secondary about the evidence that led back to him.

Apparently, Ricky was some sort of off the charts serial killer and criminal mastermind and he had been staying in a hotel nearby over the past couple of nights. He was seen walking in the streets at 10 pm and had been walking in the direction of the apartment. Cameras didn’t catch him walking into the apartment but a janitor at the hotel gave a description of a stranger who had entered the building towards the end of 10 pm and that description matched people’s descriptions of Ricky. The evidence wasn’t solid but it was enough to work with.

The secondary was clearly eager to work on the case as she had been bursting with energy since C.C. arrived at the crime scene but C.C. didn’t want her to know that Ricky was part of his personal life, or rather was part of his personal life. C.C. felt like Ricky was too reckless, almost like he wanted to get caught. He knew his friend would never miss a single detail when planning anything and recalled that Ricky was always adept at picking up the smallest details in cases that officials sometimes missed. So, if Ricky’s purpose of murdering the person was to get caught, why did he do it? Did he expect to get caught and not get convicted?

C.C. promised the eager secondary that he would investigate the case and told her that he would look into it and contact her if he needed any further help. The forensics team was already taking photos and talking amongst themselves about how bizarre the death was as C.C. slipped away. He went home and tried not to think about Ricky as he fell asleep, knowing he would have to face the facts eventually. 

When he woke up the next day, he was reminded by emails from the forensics team about the body and groaned, not wanting to confront the notion that Ricky could be a serial killer. He reluctantly searched databases and scoured the internet for specific information about Ricky but no news article or record could spare specific details. The descriptions of him were relatively specific, but not specific enough for one to immediately pick him out of a crowd of people.

Most people described him as a “smooth, cunning, and wicked criminal” but nobody explicitly stated what he had done or what exactly he was infamous for. It was sort of implied through the word spread that if you got into trouble with Ricky Goldsworth, you were in deep deep trouble. Ricky’s reputation led to the assumption that he would have been caught before by the law but C.C. couldn’t find anything about Ricky in the police database. It was almost as if Ricky had wiped himself out of existence and made himself an urban legend for people to speculate about.

Yet, if Ricky was as cunning and smooth as people described him to be, why would he be so reckless in his recent murder? C.C. thought he knew Ricky and thought he would be able to answer all these questions, but maybe all those years spent with Ricky didn’t matter now that he was a completely new person. C.C. knew that in order to find out about Ricky, not even just for the purpose of solving the case, he would have to consult a person he knew who would know about Ricky: Francesca Norris.

Francesca now ran a tiny, cozy thrift store in a local town about half an hour outside of where C.C. lived so it wasn’t too much of a hassle to pay his old friend a trip. He was surprised Francesca decided to run a thrift store as she had always been set to become a spy when she was younger. But, if Francesca’s maturation into adulthood followed a similarly drastic change as Ricky’s, maybe she decided that being a spy wasn’t the best job for her.

The moment C.C. pulled into the thrift store’s small parking lot, he saw an unfamiliar car. The car seemed out of place and too exquisite and expensive to be in such a bland, average neighborhood. Whoever owned the car was probably extremely rich and spent their money extravagantly. C.C. found it strange that such a wealthy person would visit a local thrift store and deducted that the person probably had other motives other than thrift shopping. 

As C.C. gently pushed opened the thrift store’s door, he heard voice gently waft through the air and silently moved closer to the direction of the voices to hear them better. He recognized Francesca’s voice and heard another voice that was deeper, presumably a middle-aged man’s. 

“What were you thinking? Were you trying to get caught? The police are onto you now! You’re so reckless. Don’t make me clean up your mess.” C.C. heard Francesca chide, a stern tone in her voice. He peeked through the shelves of random trinkets and saw her behind a counter. The person she was talking to had their back faced to C.C. so C.C. couldn’t see his face. 

“I wanted to get caught so I can talk to him again. I miss him a lot. Don’t worry, if they find me, I’ll escape,” The man replied and his voice washed over C.C. like a wave of cold water. The voice was sharp and rough and even though it had changed, the voice still was familiar to C.C.’s ears.

“If you’re certain this is going to work, I guess it’s fine. Just don’t make me have to bust you out of jail again.” C.C. was taken aback at Francesca’s reply. Again? What was Francesca up to? Why was she helping him escape? Was running a thrift store just a cover story for her real job? And what did he do that would land him in jail? Why did Francesca lie about not knowing where he was when C.C. asked? As C.C. turned around a corner, he tried to be as quiet as possible but accidentally knocked a book off of the shelf. He reached for the book attempting to catch it before it hit the ground but he was too slow. 

Ricky and Francesca turned their heads and saw C.C. in an aisle, a shocked looking crossing both of their faces. For a detective, C.C. was a little too clumsy at times. Francesca’s surprised expression morphed into one of light humor, “Didn’t you say you wanted to talk with him. well, you can say whatever you wanted to say now that he’s right in front of you.”

“C.C., what are you doing here?” Ricky asked casually, acting as if he wasn’t just talking about killing a person to get the detective’s attention. Over the many years that had passed since C.C. saw Ricky, not much changed. Ricky still had beautiful almond eyes with a mischievous glint and the only thing that changed was what he wore. As a teen, Ricky never saw a reason to dress fancy and he would’ve laughed at himself as an adult because now, Ricky was wearing an elegant black suit, as if he was attending a business meeting instead of talking with his friend at a local thrift store. 

“I, uh, actually came here to ask Francesca about you,” C.C. managed to not stumble over his words as he walked up to Ricky, feeling extremely out of place. He knew that he shouldn’t be prioritizing his personal life over work but he really wanted to know how Ricky was doing before arresting him. “I guess I should probably arrest me but..?”

“You want to hear me out? Haven’t you ever heard of the saying 'curiosity killed the cat’?” Ricky raised an eyebrow, his lips curling up in a familiar smirk. C.C. missed his friend’s sarcastic humor and quips that eased the tension and laughed a bit at the remark. Francesca noted that this conversation probably wasn’t for her to hear and made some excuse to quickly go into the storage room to give the two friends some privacy. 

“So, Ricky, why exactly did you have to kill a person to get my attention?” C.C. attempted to sound humorous but there was a tense undertone in his voice. He just couldn’t seem to think of a good reason why Ricky would go to such an extreme for him. Oh wait, Ricky was probably a serial killer now and probably enjoyed killing people. 

“I mean, it wasn’t only to get your attention. That guy also owed me a ton of money and never paid me back, not that I need it,” Ricky added the last part hastily, obviously a little reluctant to talk about his motives now that C.C. slipped back into detective mode. He didn’t seem too worried about being questioned, and he wasn’t brandishing a knife so C.C. was asking the right questions. 

“That’s what you’ve been doing? Going on killing sprees and making loads of cash while you’re at it?” C.C. questioned incredulously. He was definitely letting some emotion control his questions as he still couldn’t bring himself to believe that this person used to be his best friend. Maybe he should’ve seen it coming due to Ricky’s obsession with serial killers and murder mysteries as a child.

“Well, kind of. It’s hard to explain,” Ricky shrugged nonchalantly, obviously not bothered by C.C.’s surprise. Ricky could not have given a vaguer answer and there was no way that C.C. was going to accept vague comments. 

“Then explain,” C.C. sounded a lot braver than he felt as he literally was giving an order to a criminal who was extremely dangerous. But then again, that criminal was his best friend so he felt like his chances of being murdered on the spot were slim. Ricky hesitated for a moment with an amused smirk on his face, reminding C.C. of how Ricky used to jokingly steal C.C.’s pencils and give that same smirk when C.C. asked for them. 

Ricky must still trust C.C. because he then proceeded to explain what he had been up to in the past couple of years, seeming to ignore the fact that he was a detective who probably could call this a confession of all his crimes. According to Ricky, his mother, Lucy Goldsworth, had always been part of the criminal world and he was expected to join as well to carry on the Goldsworth legacy. After high school, Ricky didn’t go to college and instead, went straight into the criminal industry. Thanks to his mother, he quickly rose to fame and was able to establish a bunch of relations. This led to him becoming one of the greatest and most mysterious criminal masterminds in the entire world. Of course, with fame came money so now, Ricky was probably richer than the Queen of England.

“What about you? What’s been up with you?” Ricky maintained a very calm attitude and he leaned against the counter, offering a politely inquisitive look. C.C. wondered how Ricky was able to maintain a cool and collected act. 

“Nothing as exciting. I just finished up college and became a detective. No surprise there,” C.C. chuckled. The absurdity of the situation was slowly becoming normal as C.C. decided to just accept this new development and go with the flow. His eyes met Ricky’s again and he almost could find the old Ricky in those stunning eyes. Ricky’s lips were still arranged in a smirk but it was softer now with a quality of affection in it. His posture was relaxed and loose and for a moment, C.C. forgot about their jobs and felt like they were just two old friends catching up. 

“I missed you a lot. I didn’t really know how to contact you so I kind of just went with the standard,” Ricky mimicked stabbing somebody, implying that his standard was straight-up homicide. He still talked in a joking tone and C.C. couldn’t help but snicker at his sarcastic remark. 

“I missed you too but this isn’t the ideal situation to meet in. In terms of my job, I’m disappointed in your behavior but as your friend, I can’t say I’m not flattered you went so far to get my attention,” C.C. remarked, still carrying the sarcastic tone of the conversation. Ricky grinned and suddenly the room seemed a thousand times brighter than it had been before. For a moment, Ricky and C.C. just stood across from each other with giant smiles on their faces. 

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Ricky held out both his wrists, a confident gleam in his eyes. “You can arrest me. Don’t worry, I’ll find my way out.”

C.C. chuckled and clasped a pair of handcuffs over Ricky’s wrists. “That’s very reassuring.”

~

C.C.’s name was all over headlines the day after meeting Ricky and he received a lot of credit for catching such a notorious criminal. Ricky’s trial was a huge deal but somehow Ricky still seemed eerily calm at court. In fact, he even had a smile on his face during some part of the trial. Many newspapers dubbed Ricky as “a real-life Jim Moriarity” and even though he was famous before the trial, his fame really skyrocketed. 

Within a week of being thrown in prison, Ricky managed to escape and murdered a couple of security guards on his way out of prison. To say the least, C.C. was surprised when Ricky showed up at his house two weeks after escaping, just enough time for the frenzy around him to die down. He had come home from another day at the office and had been feeling pretty tired after solving another case. When he walked into his kitchen, he saw Ricky sitting on his kitchen counter with his feet dangling and his hands lightly gripping the side of the counter.

“What are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be killing people or something?” C.C. asked, deciding not to question how Ricky broke into his house. If Ricky managed to keep his criminal record in the police database mostly clean after murdering countless people, then breaking into somebody’s house was probably a piece of cake for him.

“Well, I missed you and wanted to pay you a visit. Also, I can’t believe how boring your fridge is. There’s no fancy champagne,” Ricky pouted as he slid off the counter and walked over to C.C. Ricky didn’t seem to want anything in particular from C.C. so C.C. let himself relax a bit and trusted that Ricky really wanted to catch up. As C.C. made dinner, they talked a bit about life and made up for all those lost years. Starting from that day, every Wednesday evening, Ricky would always be in C.C.’s home waiting for him to come home from work. Ricky shared a minimal amount of information about his job but still kept some details to himself, leaving some room for C.C.’s imagination to fill.

C.C. thought that his feelings for Ricky would disappear but his emotions proved him wrong. He found that the fluttery feeling he felt around Ricky many years ago resurfaced and C.C. caught himself constantly staring at his friend and admiring his looks. He memorized the smell of Ricky’s ridiculously expensive cologne and could probably sketch the shape of Ricky’s lips by memory. C.C. constantly blushed whenever Ricky was within ten centimeters of his body and realized that his crush on Ricky was blown up into full-on infatuation.

One day, as they were talking during dinner, Ricky brought up a question that changed C.C.’s life. They had been talking about some dull topic when Ricky suddenly paused, his face lighting up as an idea crossed his mind. C.C. recognized this look and had a feeling that he was about to propose something wildly dangerous and risky. “Hey, are you going to do something about it?”

“Wh-what? What do you mean?” C.C. was so startled by the bluntness of this question that he almost dropped his fork. Ricky rolled his eyes dramatically and placed both elbows on the table, resting his chin on the heel of his palm.

“You’re not so subtle with the staring, you know? Anybody could tell that you’re hopelessly in love with me,” Ricky laughed as he watched C.C. blush furiously, clearly embarrassed to be called out. 

“I’m not?” C.C. sounded so uncertain and caught off guard, causing himself to feel more embarrassed and causing Ricky to burst into more peals of laughter. 

“It’s been twenty years since you started crushing on me and you still won’t admit it? I guess I have to take things into my own hands,” Before C.C. could protest any further, Ricky stood up and placed his hands on the back of C.C.’s head and brought their lips together in a kiss. C.C. was stunned for a second before he reciprocated, kissing Ricky back. This was the moment he had been anticipating ever since he was a young teen and he couldn’t believe this was happening. At the moment, C.C. just let his body run on autopilot but his mind was scattered, running a million miles a minute and creating a string of fragmented thoughts. 

When Ricky finally pulled away, C.C. already missed the taste of his lips. Before Ricky could ask anything, C.C. blurted out, “You’re really short, how did you manage that?”

“You’re sitting down you dense loaf of bread,” Ricky laughed and the tension in the room collapsed back into the comfortable feeling of affection. C.C. and Ricky didn’t explicitly place labels on their relationship; they just gravitated towards each other. At some point, they began kissing and cuddling and calling each other endearing nicknames. Francesca had stopped by a couple of times and congratulated them for finally getting together after all those years. 

After a couple of months of dating, C.C. had gotten over the cognitive dissonance caused by the fact that he was a detective dating a criminal and let himself enjoy Ricky’s presence. As much as C.C. loved Ricky, he was still very unpredictable at times, like the time he asked another question out of the blue. They were laying in bed, comfortably nestled next to each other when Ricky asked, “Would you be willing to run away with me?”

“Run away with you? To where?” C.C. asked, running his fingers lazily through Ricky’s messy hair. At this point, C.C. wasn’t as surprised at Ricky’s spontaneous questions as he was before. 

“Someplace far from here. And quieter, with less traffic and fewer people,” Ricky mused, curling closer to C.C. and pressing a gentle kiss on his boyfriend’s cheek. “I’m bored of this place.”

“That sounds amazing but would I have to quit my job? And how will we pull this off?” C.C. questioned, his curiosity getting the best of him again. Ricky was the only person who could deal with C.C.’s constant questions and found his curiosity adorable. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll handle it. As for your job, you don’t have to quit if you don’t want to. You could just say you’re taking a super long break. I’ll find us a place to stay and arrange everything,” Ricky assured C.C., pressing a feathery soft kiss on his collarbone. 

“Sounds good to me,” C.C. replied, smiling as he kissed the top of Ricky’s head. He drifted off to sleep with the cozy feeling of warmth and love surrounding his body and C.C. had never been more content.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> when agreeing to date ricky, c.c. didn’t sign up to get involved in ricky’s messes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tw: mild violence

The name Banjo McClintock was foreign on C.C.’s lips but that was his new identity and he had to get used to it. All his life, C.C. Tinsley had never been one to make rash decisions; he always played it safe. Now, he had made probably the riskiest choice he had ever made and he was having doubts. C.C. wanted to get away from the city for a while but he just didn’t know what Ricky intended for them to do in the new place. Logically, it made no sense for C.C. to abandon the stable life he had lived to run away with Ricky but maybe that’s why he agreed. 

Maybe that’s why he agreed to it. Maybe C.C. was tired of playing it safe. Maybe he liked the rush of adrenaline electrifying his veins. Sure, he had plenty of experiences where pure adrenaline coursed through his systems but whenever he was around Ricky, there was a different kind of adrenaline that seemed to spike in his systems. Ricky was unpredictable but smooth, sly and cunning but sweet and beautiful. Maybe, ever since Ricky made his return into C.C.’s life, C.C. wanted to live a different life, a life with Ricky without the guilt of being a detective and dating a criminal. 

The fake passport worked like a charm and the people at the airport didn’t even bat an eye at his ID. Ricky arranged a flight for C.C. to Las Vegas because Ricky had some business to finish (or as he said, “Loose ends to tie up”) before they could run away together. C.C. wasn’t too stoked about the idea of meeting Ricky’s “work friends”, some of which he might have encountered when doing his job, but Ricky assured C.C. that they wouldn’t hold his past against him. 

Of course, Ricky booked C.C. first class seats so now C.C. got to be that one douche in the first class seats who watched all the regular passengers walk by to cram themselves into normal tight airplane seats. As the plane took off, C.C. recalled a conversation he had with Francesca before leaving. He told her what he had agreed to and frankly, she wasn’t too surprised. C.C. asked what would have happened if C.C. turned Ricky down and Francesca had replied, “Ricky probably would go on a killing spree out of anger, get really sad, and then go on another killing spree to get your attention. You can’t really say no to a serial killer.” 

When C.C. arrived in Las Vegas, he directly went to the hotel and Ricky was already in their hotel room, looking more beautiful than usual in a sleek black suit. He wasn’t surprised at how ridiculously elaborate the hotel was based on his flight to Las Vegas. He greeted Ricky with a sweet kiss and asked, “Missed me? What’ve you been up to here in Vegas?”

“Just ran a couple of errands. I picked out a suit for you to wear for dinner! How was your flight?” Ricky asked, looking in the mirror as he adjusted his bowtie. C.C. walked over to the suit Ricky chose and was in complete awe at how amazing it was. The suit was made of the finest material C.C. had ever felt and the suit was a spectacular shade of royal blue. It was so smooth that the light that bounced off of the sleek surface made it shine with a stunning glimmer. Ricky walked over, standing next to C.C., drinking in his surprised delight. “When I saw this suit, I immediately thought of you and how this suit would bring out your beauty.” 

“Wow, I guess I really am your trophy husband,” C.C. replied, half-joking, half-serious as he ran his fingers across the surface of the suit, still not believing his eyes. 

“If you want to call yourself that, sure. Now, get dressed and let’s go get some dinner,” Ricky turned back to the mirror, smoothing out the wrinkles in his suit. For some reason, C.C.’s mind kept drifting back to the phrase “trophy husband”. He knew that he and Ricky had a solid, healthy relationship but it felt awkward to drop his work to run away with Ricky. Dinner didn’t provide much relief from his thoughts as C.C. was forced to meet a couple of Ricky’s friends and although they were not terrible, C.C. still wondered if he would ever be able to live his old life again.

After dinner, Ricky and C.C. went back to their hotel room and as C.C. sat in bed reading the newspaper, he couldn’t seem to focus on the task at hand. Ricky noticed C.C.’s uneasiness and scooted across the giant bed that they sat on. “What’s wrong? You look tense.”

“I guess I’ve just been thinking too much. That’s all,” C.C. answered, setting the newspaper aside on the bedside drawer as he leaned against the headboard of the bed and sighed. Ricky began pressing small kisses on the side of C.C.’s neck, knowing that his kisses always helped ward of his constant stream of thoughts. As he placed kisses, Ricky murmured, “What’s been bothering you?”

“I just… I mean, I love you but I gave up my job and my past life and I still don’t know where this is going,” C.C. rambled, sighing as Ricky shifted positions so either one of his legs was next to C.C.’s thighs. He began kissing C.C. with more ferocity and hunger than before, making small lovebites on his boyfriend’s neck as he straddled his hips.

“Don’t worry, I have this all handled. I just needed to finish up this job before we can start a new life together. Besides, you’re hooked now. You can’t get enough of me,” Ricky joked between kisses and C.C. laughed. The subject was dropped and no more words needed to be spoken other than each other’s names.

-

Ricky was a man of his word and as he promised, he managed to start a new life for him and C.C. Since he already gave C.C. a new identity, Ricky simply changed his identity as well and found them a place practically in the middle of nowhere. The place was a small, humble house that made C.C. feel a lot cozier than he would have been in a large, expensive house. Ricky didn’t mind living in a simple house and the couple took this chance to restart their lives together without worrying about the “criminal-detective dilemma”. 

In their new life, Ricky and C.C. act like a normal couple instead of constantly hiding and avoiding going out in public. They could go to restaurants on dates and not worry about the police storming in on their nice meal to arrest Ricky, and they could go furniture shopping without worrying about the locals identifying C.C. from a case he worked on. 

The neighborhood the couple settled in was easily an ideal location as it was surrounded by enough forest to admire on walks but not enough forest to get lost in. The people in the neighborhood were kind and accepting and didn’t really mind that C.C. and Ricky were a gay couple. Nobody was nosy enough or just didn’t care enough to try to ask the couple about details of their personal life. The neighbors all knew Ricky and C.C. by their names and knew they were dating, but never asked a more intrusive question than “how are you doing today?” And never even once questioned why none of their family members ever came to visit during the holidays. The houses weren’t tightly packed as they were in the city; instead, the houses were more spread out, which helped Ricky and C.C. avoid awkward driveway conversations in the mornings.

C.C. sometimes missed his job as a detective but with his new life, he was able to delve deeper into his interest in journalism and eventually began to write for the town’s small newspaper. In addition to getting a magnified look at what was going on in the neighborhood, C.C. also got to learn new information by writing for the newspaper. It was hard to adapt to this new life and job at first, but C.C. eventually found that he enjoyed his new life a lot.

Ricky had picked up the hobby of cooking and he and C.C. were as content as they could be. They had each other, an accepting community, and a comfortable home with satisfactory jobs. What more could one need?

C.C. had thought that this euphoria of living this new life would never fade and that the rest of his life would remain perfect but to his dismay, he was wrong. His perfect life began its descent downhill when he returned home from a late evening newspaper brainstorming session. C.C. had unlocked the door, a bag of groceries in hand as he opened the door and called, “Darling, I’m home! I stopped by the grocery store on the way back. I finally got the lemons you needed!”

Eerily, there was no reply from Ricky and C.C. carefully closed and locked the door behind him, walking into the kitchen and expecting to see Ricky engrossed in a book, face illuminated by the dim light of the lamp. Instead, he was met with a stranger, sitting at the dining table with a worried look on his face. C.C. set down the grocery bag, picking up a knife from the kitchen table and pointing it at the stranger, who was staring at him, “Who are you?”

“I was sent to warn you that Ricky isn’t who he seems to be. He told you he left his old life behind but he’s lying,” The stranger grimaced, almost as if it pained him to say Ricky’s name aloud. He opened his mouth to continue but Ricky abruptly appeared in the doorway with a throwing knife and landed the knife into the stranger's forehead. He fell to the floor with a gasp, blood pooling around his head like a gory halo. C.C. was so stunned at Ricky’s sudden appearance that he dropped the knife he had been pointing at the stranger back on the kitchen counter. 

Ricky casually took out the throwing knife from the stranger’s head and cleaned it with a towel. He gave C.C. a pointed look and calmly advised, “Go upstairs to the bedroom. I’ll handle this and be right up.” 

C.C. walked up to their bedroom in a shocked daze. He had watched people get murdered before but he had never seen his boyfriend murder somebody with such an emotionless reaction as if he had been reading a math textbook instead of killing a person. C.C. knew Ricky would be able to dispose of the evidence and he hadn’t seen the stranger around town so he must’ve been sent from somewhere else.

What baffled him the most was what the stranger said. He didn’t know who the stranger was or who sent the stranger to warn C.C. What was the person’s motive? Was it for personal benefit or did whoever sent the stranger actually care about C.C.? Was Ricky lying to C.C. about who he was and what he was doing?

C.C. has attempted to bring up these questions when Ricky came into the bedroom but Ricky ignored them, brushing them off and claiming he was too tired to answer. C.C. was left lying awake at night, feeling more uncertain than he had ever before about his decision to run away with Ricky. He felt the same way as he did that night in Las Vegas when Ricky distracted him from his feelings and wondered if their love was just them two running away from their past and their true identity emotions before drifting off into a restless sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ricky and c.c.’s relationship comes crashing down and c.c. hates watching it burn

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tw: kidnapping, angst, mild violence

To say that C.C. wasn’t expecting this was an understatement. He and Ricky hadn’t been on best terms ever since the mysterious stranger showed up at their house and warned C.C. vaguely before getting stabbed. C.C. kept asking Ricky if what the stranger had said was true but Ricky denied or changed the topic whenever he asked. 

C.C. and Ricky had gotten into an argument and Ricky had stormed off in the dead of night to “collect his thoughts”. C.C. hated sleeping on arguments but at this point, he was too tired to stay up and think about Ricky and his sly lies. He fell asleep and when he woke up, he was tied to a chair in what seemed like a dark warehouse.

C.C. knew Ricky was agitated but there was no way Ricky would have gotten so mad as to plan to commit homicide, right? Dang, he really hated dating an unpredictable, emotional criminal. He realized that Ricky wasn’t the one who tied him up as the knot style was different from the knot style Ricky used. As C.C. struggled to escape from the boa-constrictor-like grip of the ropes, a figure stepped out of the dark corners of the warehouse. “C.C. Tinsley. Or should I say, Banjo McClintock?”

A man walked out from the shadows, a fedora on his head and a smirk on his face. C.C. didn’t recognize the man but by the way the man acted, C.C. was probably supposed to recognize him. The man took off his sunglasses that never had any use in the first place other than serving as a fashion accessory and met C.C.’s eye as he took out an ID. On the ID card read the name “Banjo McClintock” with the man’s smiling face next to the name. C.C. reeled in shock, wondering why Ricky never told him the Banjo McClintock was the name of an actual person and Banjo began pacing around the C.C. in small circles with his hands clasped behind his back.

“You’re probably wondering why you’re here. Don’t worry, I’ve got all the time in the world to explain,” Banjo chuckled and C.C began trying to  
Piece together who Banjo was. He had no accent whatsoever in his voice, making it obvious he was a voice actor or a spy. C.C. decided that it was the latter as a voice actor probably wouldn’t have the guts to kidnap anybody.

“You see, you’re not supposed to be doing much, you’re just serving as bait for our dear friend Ricky,” Banjo hissed out Ricky’s name as if silently cursing him. “Ricky and I used to work together. As a spy for the government, I didn’t have many people to rely on and I would often turn to Ricky for information. We worked together for a couple of years before I got assigned an investigation into one of Ricky’s close criminal friends, he decided that it was time to end my career.”

C.C. knew that he should be taking notes and paying attention to Banjo’s dramatic villain confession but he just couldn’t bring himself to care. After all, he just had a fight with his boyfriend and now he was getting kidnapped because of his boyfriend, so he really didn’t know how to feel about all this. Banjo couldn't care less about the internal conflict and emotional shifts C.C. was going through and continued to ramble on. 

“I had gone to Ricky for leads for that investigation and he brought me to an abandoned building. He proceeded to lock me in the building and set the building on fire, leaving me for the dead,” Banjo turned towards C.C., waiting for a reaction to the gruesome tale. C.C. gave no reaction as he heard more gory stories about his boyfriend murdering and blackmailing people than this tale. 

“What he didn’t expect was for me to live. I guess he really thought I was dead as he gave my identity to you. What a smart guy. I mean, if you’re dead, you don’t exist, right? You’re basically off the records with this ID,” Banjo mused, pausing his storytelling to consider a thought that briefly crossed his head. He blinked out of the momentary trance and continued. “I used to be a good cop but now, I just want revenge. I sent a warning but you didn’t listen. I’m tired of Ricky messing around. Did you know he’s still fooling around in the crime world? Not as much as he used to but he still has a prescience.”

C.C. gritted his teeth, hating that he was only finding out about this now. He really hated that Ricky was lying to him and that the perfect life he had lived was all an illusion. The thought that everything was fake had made a home in the back of C.C.’s mind so while it surprised C.C., he knew that Ricky was tied to the criminal world and that even if he tried, he wouldn’t have been able to ever fully separate himself. But Ricky didn’t even try to separate himself, according to Banjo, and the fact that Ricky had lied really hurt C.C.

“Ricky lied to you about stopping. He’s addicted to the thrill of it. He loves feeling the adrenaline and the thrill of breaking the law right under the cops’ noses. It’s time for me to end his reign. You’re one of the only things he cares about and he’s going to be running here for you soon. I will be remembered as the man who took down Ricky Goldsworth,” Banjo’s voice crescendoed as he passionately spoke and gesticulated, a crazed expression in his eyes. C.C. definitely couldn’t trust this guy a hundred percent as a near-death experience probably didn’t help this guy's credibility in terms of mental stability.

Just as Banjo began to ramble about how C.C. was just a “boy toy”, a loud bang echoed through the seemingly empty warehouse. As C.C.’s eyes adjusted to the darkness from the direction of the sound, he saw Ricky walking towards Banjo, a controlled but furious expression on his face. He seemed unfazed but also dangerously on the edge of becoming unhinged in the blink of an eye.

“Banjo. I didn’t know you were alive,” As Ricky approached Banjo, the spy backed away and raised a gun to C.C.’s head, clicking the bullet into place. C.C. wasn’t too worried about dying as he had ended up in more dangerous situations and based on Ricky’s quick-witted nature, he was probably going to get out of this alive.

“Surprise,” Banjo snarled, beginning to loosen his grip on the gun, his focus shifting towards Ricky and away from C.C. For a spy, Banjo wasn’t very observative as he didn’t seem to notice that Ricky had been slowly walking towards him. Ricky’s eyes met C.C.’s and they read each other’s minds for a second, sharing the intent to take Banjo down. C.C. stuck out his leg and kicked Banjo in the ankles, causing him to trip and catching him off guard. As Banjo doubled over, Ricky sped over and stabbed him with a knife. A minimal amount of blood splattered as Ricky clearly killed with the intent to cover it up. 

Banjo screamed in agony but Ricky kicked him aside, clearly more worried about C.C. With the bloody knife, Ricky cut open the ropes that bound his boyfriend and when C.C. was free, Ricky leaned towards C.C. to give him a kiss but C.C. jerked back. 

“I don’t even know you anymore! Is this what you’ve been up to? Still making enemies?” C.C. argues, anger blinding all his other emotions. Ricky opened his mouth to respond but C.C. cut him off harshly. “I don’t want to hear your excuses. This was your mess and you dragged me into it. You have lied to me about everything and I don’t want to hear any more lies.”

C.C. began storming off, satisfied that Ricky wasn’t trailing behind him. He paused for a moment, spun around, and felt his heart painfully twist as he saw Ricky’s hurt expression. Ricky always remained composed and smooth but now he was visibly torn and his sharp pin was reflected his eyes, but C.C. couldn’t seem to find empathy. He had been feeling this immense emotional pain Ricky was now feeling ever since he had first loved Ricky and C.C. met Ricky’s hazel eyes that were pooling with heartbreaking sadness as he spat, “And you know what? I think I fell in love with the old Ricky. The Ricky that actually trusted me and didn’t go around stabbing people.”

With that C.C. walked away from Ricky and the life he had with his old boyfriend. He returned back to the place where he was working before and explained his disappearance as a long break he decided to take to cope with the death of his grandpa. People didn’t really question it as they had better things to do with their time and the head of the office simply welcomed him back with a “We’re glad to have our best detective back!”

C.C.’s job was more difficult because now every criminal ache encountered reminded him of Ricky. He hated that he couldn’t stop thinking of Ricky no matter how hard he tried. Little did C.C. know that Ricky still cared. A lot. Although Ricky pretended not to care, he still often made sure C.C. was doing okay. He didn’t react as irrationally as C.C. thought he would and no killing sprees had commenced yet.

When C.C. realized that keeping his feelings to himself wasn’t going to allow him to forget Ricky easily, he decided to go pay Francesca a visit. When he walked into Francesca’s thrift store, he heard Francesca talking with Ricky and froze. He hadn’t heard Ricky’s voice in weeks and his voice alone was bringing back memories and a sense of longing. 

“To be fair, you did kill my husband to save him. I mean, I’m not too mad about it but you can’t expect me to be cheerful either,” Francesca scoffed, playful disdain and thin resentment in her voice. C.C. was pretty sure she was referring to Banjo and was taken aback at this new information. He wouldn’t have expected Francesca to marry a spy, but then again, he never knew what to expect from Fran.

“Please, that poor man was so boring, Fran. I can’t believe you settled for him,” Ricky chuckled and Francesca broke into a grin. C.C. cleared his throat, making his presence known and when Ricky turned around, their eyes met for a brief second before C.C. looked towards Fran. Ricky awkwardly adjusted the gold watch on his wrist and mumbled something about leaving before he brushed past C.C. and left the store.

“If it isn’t good old C.C.,” Fran smiled as C.C. walked up to the counter, who broke into an equally bright smile, glad to see his old friend. “You have no clue how much I’ve been hearing about you from Ricky. He’s so infatuated but he was too dense to properly show you how much he cared about you.”

“I really thought he cared and it really sucked that he had been lying to my face this whole time,” C.C. admitted, sighing in frustration as he remembered him shouting at Ricky the last time he saw him. Fran nodded, an empathetic look on her face as she arranged trinkets on the counter into a neat little pyramid. 

“Ricky had good intentions. Contrary to popular belief, Ricky isn’t a terrible person. Sure, he might not be the best person- after all, he did kill a bunch of people- but he cares a lot about you,” the corners of Fran’s twinkling eyes crinkled with amusement as she spoke. It was hard to believe that this was where these three friends had ended up and C.C. could tell that Fran was thinking about their high school years too after bringing it up.

“I know but it’s just so hard to forgive him. I trusted him and he lied for so long. Maybe I fell in love with the old Ricky,” Tears threatened to fill C.C.’s eyes as memories sped through his head, remembering the good old days when C.C. and Ricky were able to be around each other without too much to worry about.

“Ricky is still the same old Ricky. To be fair, his job has changed him and he’s developed a rough exterior. But under that tough shell is still the same Ricky that can’t stand salad dressing. He still has one of the biggest hearts in this world,” Fran couldn’t help but smirk at the odd juxtaposition of the concept of good and an infamous serial killer. 

“I want to forgive him and love him without worrying about him lying because of his job but it’s… difficult,” C.C. struggled to word his feelings as he just had a lot to think about when it came to Ricky. He had never stopped loving him but he also wondered if Ricky really did love him back or if he was using him. 

“If you really do love him, take your time for your decision. Forgiveness doesn’t come as easily if you’re hurt badly but just remember that he’ll wait for you,” Fran’s eyes were filled with emotion, a rare sight, as C.C.’s dilemma seemed to remind her of something in her memories that was long forgotten. C.C. thanked Francesca for the advice and she returned back to her happy self, replying with a wink, “Its no problem at all! Don’t forget to invite me to the wedding when you two get married!”

“On the topic of weddings, why wasn’t I invited to your wedding? I’m not hurt, just curious,” C.C. asked and Francesca chuckled, her signature smile paired with a glint in her eyes creating an amused expression.

“I didn’t have a wedding since I wasn’t legally married. Banjo and I were spies so our identities don’t really exist. Besides, having legal documents is basically begging people to dig up your past,” C.C. raised his eyebrows at the last statement and gave her one last glance before exiting the shop. No matter how many questions he asked, Francesca Norris was always going to be the most mysterious person C.C. had ever met.

C.C. caught himself thinking about Ricky and his relationship with Ricky almost constantly no matter where he was. He wanted to talk to Ricky again but he was terrified that he was going to immediately fall back into Ricky’s deceiving lies. C.C. returned to Fran’s shop a couple more times to ask for advice and to spill his feelings and Fran told him about how Ricky hadn’t been active in the criminal community anymore.

C.C. was surprised since he thought Ricky would go on killing sprees to cope with his feelings but Fran informed him that Ricky skipped the anger stage of grief and went directly to the depression. According to Fran, Ricky spent most of his time infiltrating public cameras and watching over C.C. to make sure he was safe.

Then, C.C. realized that Ricky really did care for him and probably regretted lying to him. Just as Fran said, forgiving was a process and he eventually accepted his feelings and decided to give Ricky a second chance. C.C. didn’t want to jump back into a relationship quickly but he wanted to ease himself back into talking with Ricky again and smoothening their rocky relationship.

C.C. knew that Ricky could get into C.C.’s house and probably visited a couple times since they stopped seeing each other. He figured this out from a couple of his bottles of champagne disappearing. Ricky eventually began to visit C.C.’s house more often and began helping him out. Whenever C.C. stayed up working on a case, he often fell asleep with the light on but lately, whenever he fell asleep with the lights on, he woke up to find that the light had been turned off. Sometimes C.C. would leave the radio on and leave the house in a rush and come home to discover that the radio was turned off. As much of a bastard Ricky was, he still helped C.C. save money on his electricity bill and obviously still cared for C.C. Tinsley.

Recalling that Fran mentioned that Ricky was keeping a close watch on C.C., which was a little creepy but oddly comforting, C.C. decided to leave him a little note in his kitchen. If he was going to give Ricky a second chance, he had to take it one step at a time. On the note, C.C. simply wrote, “I’m giving you a second chance. Dinner at 8 on Monday?” He left the note on the same kitchen counter Ricky used to sit on while waiting for C.C. to return from work and went off to work. It felt a little artificial but C.C. didn’t see how he could contact otherwise. When he came back home after work, he was delighted to find that a response had been written on the back of the note.

Ricky has scrawled, “I missed you. I can’t wait for Wednesday” and C.C. broke into a genuine smile, finally feeling hope that maybe this would work out after all.

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on tumblr[@luckysam78](https://luckysam78.tumblr.com/)! my bfu sideblog is [@tinsley-goldsworth](https://tinsley-goldsworth.tumblr.com/)!
> 
> a sequel to this fic will be coming soon!


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